DEADLY EMBRACE: HITLER, STALIN AND NAZI-SOVIET NON-AGGRESSION PACT.

 

I WANT TO TALK ABOUT THE NAZI-SOVIET NON-AGGRESSION PACT, BECAUSE THIS SHOTGUN WEDDING CHANGED THE WORLD FOREVER. 

 

TO CUT TO THE QUICK, IT JUMP STARTED WORLD WAR II AND LED TO THE DEATH OF SOME 50 MILLION PEOPLE.

 

AS WE WALK THROUGH THE STREETS OF GDANSK, THE FORMER CITY OF DANZIG, WE SHOULD REMEMBER THAT THE GERMAN-POLISH INFIGHTING OVER CONTROL OF THIS CITY WAS THE TINDER BOX FOR WORLD WAR II.

 

WHAT WERE THE TERMS OF THE SOVIET-NAZI NON-AGGRESSION PACT?

 

THE PUBLIC CLAUSES GAVE HITLER A GREEN LIGHT TO INVADE POLAND. 

 

THAT IS, SOVIET NEUTRALITY ALLOWED HITLER TO FOCUS HIS ENERGIES ON QUICKLY DEFEATING POLAND.

 

THE SECRET CLAUSES CARVED UP POLAND, FINLAND AND THE BALTIC STATES BETWEEN NAZI GERMANY AND THE SOVIET UNION.

WHY DID THE NAZI-SOVIET NON-AGGRESSION PACT SHOCK THE WORLD?

 

ONLY A HANDFUL OF PEOPLE KNEW THAT THESE TWO BITTER ENEMIES—GERMANY AND THE SOVIET UNION-- WERE GOING TO SET ASIDE THEIR DEEP-SEATED IDEOLOGICAL AND RACIAL DIFFERENCES.  

 

THEIR DEADLY EMBRACE THREW THE WHOLE WORLD AMUCK. 

 

COMMUNIST PARTIES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD MADE A 180-DEGREE ABOUT FACE AND BECAME ARDENT PACIFISTS. 

 

CONSERVATIVE SUPPORTERS OF HITLER WERE HORRIFIED AT HIS MACHIEVELIAN DEAL WITH STALIN.

 

WHAT POLITICAL POSSIBILITIES WERE MORE LIKELY THAN THE THE GERMAN-SOVIET NON-AGGRESSION PACT?

 

THE MOST LIKELY OUTCOME WAS FOR POLAND TO CAVE- IN TO FRENCH AND BRITISH PRESSURE AND ALLOW SOVIET TROOPS INTO POLAND.

 

UNFORTUNATELY, THE POLES STUBBORN REFUSAL TO PERMIT SOVIET TROOPS TO ENTER POLAND PREVENTED A TRIPARTITE ALLIANCE BETWEEN THE SOVIET UNION, FRANCE, AND GREAT BRITAIN.

 

ANOTHER LIKELY OUTCOME WAS POLAND COULD HAVE COMPROMISED. 

 

THAT IS, POLAND COULD HAVE OFFERED GERMANY BETTER ACCESS RIGHTS INTO DANZIG.

 

A POLISH COMPROMISE ON ACCESS RIGHTS TO DANZIG MIGHT HAVE ACCELERATED HITLER’S TIME SCHEDULE FOR ATTACKING THE SOVIET UNION. 

  

IN HIS BOOK MEIN KAMPF HITLER STATED, “AN ALLIANCE WITH RUSSIA IS A BLUEPRINT FOR THE NEXT WAR WHOSE OUTCOME WILL BE THE END OF GERMANY.”

 

IT IS IRONIC THAT HITLER’S ALLIANCE WITH THE SOVIET UNION ENCOURAGED HIM TO TAKE THE STEPS THAT ULTIMATELY DESTROYED NAZI GERMANY.

 

HOW DID POLAND’S REFUSAL TO COMPROMISE IMPACT STALIN?

 

STALIN UNDERSTOOD TWO THINGS: FIRST OF ALL, WITHOUT SOVIET MILITARY ASSISTANCE, POLAND WAS DOOMED. 

 

AND SECONDLY, UNLESS STALIN COULD FORGE A DEAL WITH THE NAZIS, A VICTORIOUS NAZI REGIME WOULD THEN PROBABLY TURN ON THE SOVIET UNION.

 

WHAT WERE THE FOREIGN RELATION OBJECTIVES OF THE MAJOR EUROPEAN PLAYERS?

 

ON THE ONE HAND, GREAT BRITAIN, FRANCE, AND THE SOVIET UNION WERE SATISFIED WITH THE STAUS QUO. 

 

THEY WANTED TO PRESERVE THEIR EXTENSIVE EMPIRES BECAUSE THEIR COLONIES PROVIDED CHEAP RAW MATERIALS AND MARKETS FOR THEIR FINISHED GOODS.

 

ON THE OTHER HAND, HITLER WANTED TO CHANGE THE STATUS QUO.

 

GERMANY WAS DISSATISFIED WITH ITS TERRITORY, ITS PLACE IN THE SUN.

 

AS AN INITIAL STEP, HITLER WANTED TO CREATE A GERMANIC STATE IN CENTRAL EUROPE.

 

TO ACCOMPLISH THIS GOAL, HITLER ABSORBED AUSTRIA IN 1938, CZECHOSLOVAKIA IN 1938 AND THE PART OF POLAND THAT INCLUDED DANZIG IN 1939. 

 

AS A SECOND STEP, HITLER WANTED TO SEIZE THE SOVIET UKRAINE.

 

WE NEED TO REMEMBER THAT THE UKRAINE WAS INDISPENSIBLE TO HITLER BECAUSE ITS VAST AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES COULD SERVE AS A BREAD BASKET FOR HIS GERMANIC SUBJECTS.

 

WHY WERE GERMANY AND RUSSIA SO IMPORTANT TO WORLD HISTORY DURING THE 1930’S?

 

BOTH COUNTRIES WERE INTERNATIONAL TROUBLE MAKERS THAT ENCOURAGED THEIR SUPPORTERS TO TAKE CONTROL OF AS MANY COUNTRIES AS POSSIBLE. 

 

NAZI GERMANY SUPPORTED FASCIST OR RIGHT WING ORGANIZATIONS. THE SOVIET UNION SUPPORTED COMMUNIST AND LEFT WING ORGANIZATIONS. 

 

THESE BITTER RIVALRIES CAUSED A LIFE AND DEATH STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OF MOST OF THE COUNTRIES ON THE EUROPEAN CONTINENT. 

 

 

PRIOR TO SIGNING THE NON-AGGRESSION PACT WHAT DID HITLER THINK ABOUT THE SOVIET UNION? 

 

HITLER WANTED NOTHING TO DO WITH WHAT HE PERCEIVED TO BE THE JUDEO-COMMUNIST REGIME IN THE SOVIET UNIOIN. 

 

WHEN HITLER GAINED COMPLETE CONTROL OF GERMANY IN 1933, HE UNILATERALLY STOPPED ALL COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES.

 

STALIN SUMMARIZED CRUDELY THEIR BITTER ATANGONISM FOR THE GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER, RIBBENTROP. “FOR YEARS, WE HAVE BEEN POURING BUCKETS OF SHIT ON ONE ANOTHER.”

 

WHAT WAS COLLECTIVE SECURITY?

 

COLLECTIVE SECURITY WAS AN ALLIANCE OF EUROPEAN STATES TO STOP THE TERRITORIAL EXPANSION OF NAZI GERMANY. 

 

UNTIL THE SOVIET UNION SIGNED THE NON-AGGRESSION PACT WITH NAZI GERMANY, 

THE SOVIET UNION HAS SUPPORTED THE FRENCH EFFORTS TO FORM ALLIANCES WITH THE SMALL COUNTRIES OF EASTERN EUROPE IN ORDER TO CORRAL GERMANY.

 

WHAT WAS THE FATAL WEAKNESS OF COLLECTIVE SECURITY?

 

FIRST OF ALL, COLLECTIVE SECURITY REQUIRED THE WESTERN POWERS TO SHOW A CLEAR PREFERENCE FOR THE SOVIET UNION AGAINST HITLER. 

 

SECONDLY, COLLECTIVE SECURITY REQUIRED A WILLINGNESS TO TAKE EFFECTIVE ACTIONS IN RESPONSE TO HITLER’S AGGRESSION.

 

AS WE SHALL DISCUSS, FRANCE AND GREAT BRITAIN FAILED BOTH TESTS!

 

WHAT WAS THE ATTITUDE OF NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN, THE PRIME MINISTER OF GREAT BRITAIN AND EDUARD DALADIER, THE FRENCH PRIME MINISTER, TOWARD THE SOVIET UNION?

 

BOTH OF THESE MEN WERE FERVENT ANTI-COMMUNISTS, WHO HOPED THAT NAZI GERMANY WOULD DESTROY THE SOVIET UNION.

 

IN A 1938 LETTER TO KING GEORGE VI, NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN REFLECTED THE VIEW OF MANY CONSERVATIVES IN GREAT BRITAIN. “NAZI GERMANY AND GREAT BRITAIN WERE THE TWO PILLARS OF EUROPEAN PEACE AND BUTTRESSES AGAINST COMMUNISM.”

 

WHY DID STALIN LOSE CONFIDENCE IN BRITISH AND FRENCH WILLINGNESS TO FIGHT HITLER?

 

GREAT BRITAIN AND FRANCE DID NOTHING WHEN HITLER REMILITARIZED THE RHINELAND, ABSORBED AUSTRIA, AND GRABBED THE SUDETENLAND OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA. 

 

WHAT WAS THE MUNICH PACT?

 

GREAT BRITAIN AND FRANCE UNDER THE MUNICH PACT SOLD OUT CZECHOSLOVAKIA. THE MUNICH PACT GAVE GERMANY SUCH VITAL TERRITORY IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA THAT HITLER EASILY DESTROYED THE REST OF THE CZECHOSLOVAKIAN NATION WITHIN SIX MONTHS AFTER MUNICH.

 

WHY WAS THE MUNICH SELLOUT SO DISASTROUS FOR GREAT BRITAIN AND FRANCE?

 

AFTER MUNICH, STALIN DISTRUSTED THE POLITICAL LEADERSHIP OF FRANCE AND GREAT BRITAIN. 

 

MUNICH FORCED STALIN TO MAKE SOME ACCOMODATION WITH HITLER 

OR ESTABLISH A FULL BLOWN MILITARY ALLIANCE WITH GREAT BRITAIN AND FRANCE. 

 

STATED DIFFERENTLY, STALIN COULD NOT IDLY WATCH WHILE HITLER GOBBLED UP TERRITORY NEXT TO HIM.

 

WHY DID DANZIG BECOME THE NEXT IMPORTANT PIECE ON THE CHESS BOARD AFTER HITLER TOOK CZECHOSLOVAKIA?

 

AFTER HIS MUNICH SUCCESS, HITLER THOUGHT THAT HE COULD BRIBE THE POLES INTO GIVING UP DANZIG IN RETURN FOR THE POLES TAKING MUCH OF THE UKRAINE.

 

STALIN WAS WILLING TO GIVE HITLER A PORTION OF POLAND TO BRIBE HITLER AWAY FROM HITLER’S DESIGNS ON THE UKRAINE. 

 

IN RESPONSE TO HITLER’S THREATS ON DANZIG, CHAMBERLAIN GUARANTEED POLAND THAT GREAT BRITAIN WOULD GO TO WAR TO PROTECT POLAND. 

 

WHEN HITLER FOUND OUT ABOUT THE BRITISH GUARANTEE, HE WENT INTO A WILD RAGE.

 

 HE POUNDED HIS FISTS ON THE TABLE, AND THEN THREATENED, “ I WILL COOK THEM A STEW THAT THEY WILL CHOKE ON.”

 

WHY DID BOTH POLAND AND GERMANY WANT DANZIG?

 

POLAND WANTED DANZIG BECAUSE IT WAS POLAND’S ONLY OUTLET TO THE SEA. THUS, DANZIG WAS ESSENTIAL FOR POLAND’S TRADE.

 

ON THE OTHER HAND ALMOST ALL GERMANS WANTED A RETURN OF DANZIG TO GERMANY.

 

WHAT WAS DANZIG’S STATUS?

 

AFTER WORLD WAR I, DANZIG WAS MADE A FREE CITY. THAT IS, DANZIG WAS PLACED UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS, NOT POLAND OR GERMANY.

 

HOWEVER, BECAUSE GERMANS HAD TO TRAVEL OVER POLISH TERRITORY IN ORDER TO REACH DANZIG, GERMANS BITTERLY RESENTED THE LOSS OF BOTH DANZIG AND THE CORREDOR CONNECTING DANZIG TO THE REST OF GERMANY.

 

WHAT WAS THE AIM OF POLISH FOREIGN POLICY?

 

POLAND WANTED TO HAVE GOOD RELATIONSHIPS WITH BOTH GERMANY AND THE SOVIET UNION. 

 

ALTERNATIVELY, BOTH GERMANY AND THE SOVIET UNION RESENTED THE NEW POLISH NATION THAT WAS CREATED OUT OF THE FORMER TERRITORIES OF AUSTRO-HUNGARY, GERMANY, AND RUSSIA. 

 

THE POLISH COMMANDER IN CHIEF SAID “ WITH GERMANY WE LOSE OUR FREEDOM, WITH THE SOVIET UNION WE LOSE OUR SOUL.”

 

WHY DID POLAND OBJECT STRENUOUSLY TO SOVIET TROOPS ON HER TERRITORY?

 

ON THE ONE HAND, POLAND FEARED THAT SOVIET TROOPS WOULD NEVER LEAVE POLAND. 

 

STALIN HIMSELF BOASTED DURING WORLD WAR II THAT HE EXPECTED THE RED ARMY TO IMPOSE COMMUNISM IN THE TERRITORIES IT OCCUPIED.

 

ON THE OTHER HAND, MANY POLISH LEADERS IRRATIONALLY BELIEVED THAT THEY COULD MILITARILY DEFEAT GERMANY. 

 

WHAT STEPS DID STALIN TAKE TO CREATE AN UNDERSTANDING WITH HITLER IN 1939?

 

FIRST OF ALL, IN 1939 STALIN IN A MAJOR ADDRESS SAID THAT THERE WAS NO INSURMOUNTABLE DIFFFENCES BETWEEN THE SOVIET UNION AND GERMANY APART FROM IDEOLOGICAL DISAGREEMENTS AND NO VISIBLE GROUNDS FOR CONFLICT.

 

STALIN WENT ON TO SAY THAT HE WOULD NOT ALLOW THE SOVIET UNION TO BE DRAWN INTO CONFLICTS BY WESTERN WARMONGERS WHO WERE ACCUSTOMED TO HAVE OTHERS PULL THE CHESTNUTS OUT OF THE FIRE FOR THEM. 

 

STALIN WAS REFERRING TO THE SUICIDAL DECISION BY CZAR NICHOLAS II OF RUSHING UNPREPARED RUSSIAN TROOPS AGAINST GERMANY IN WORLD WAR I TO SAVE FRANCE.

 

SECONDLY, STALIN REPLACED HIS JEWISH FOREIGN MINISTER LITVINOV WITH THE RUSSIAN MOLOTOV. LITVINOV HAD BEEN THE STRONGEST PROPONENT OF AN ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE AND GREAT BRITAIN. 

 

HITLER WOULD NOT NEGOTIATE WITH LITVINOV BUT HE WOULD NEGOTIATE WITH MOLOTOV, A TOUGH NEGOTIATER WHO WAS UNAFFECTIONLY NICKNAMED “STONE ASS.” 

 

HITLER COMMENTED THAT THE REPLACING OF LITVINOV HAD THE IMPACT OF A CANONBALL. 

 

LET ME ELABORATE, HITLER CLEARLY UNDERSTOOD THAT THE FIRING OF LITVINOV WAS THE DEATHNELL OF COLLECTIVE SECURITY. INSTEAD, THE SOVIETS WANTED TO MAKE A DEAL WITH NAZI GERMANY.

 

WHAT STEPS DID HITLER TAKE TO ENCOURAGE STALIN TO SIGN A NON-AGGRESSION PACT?

 

HITLER ORDERED GERMAN DIPLOMATS TO COURT ACTIVELY THE SOVIET UNION AND FIND OUT STALIN’S PRICE FOR NEUTRALITY IN CASE OF WAR.

 

TEN DAYS BEFORE GERMANY INVADED POLAND, HITLER TOOK THE UNPRECEDENTED DIPLOMATIC STEP OF BYPASSING HIS FOREIGN OFFICE AND WROTE A PERSONAL LETTER DIRECTLY TO STALIN.

 

IN THIS LETTER HITLER EXPRESSED HIS DESIRE TO SIGN A NON-AGGRSSION PACT WITH THE SOVIET UNION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. 

 

HITLER’S PERSONAL LETTER MADE A FAVORABLE IMPRESSION ON STALIN. 

 

IN STARK CONTRAST, THE ALOOF POSTURE OF THE BRITISH AND FRENCH LEADERSHIP ALIENATED STALIN. 

 

WHAT TANGIBLE GAINS DID HITLER AND STALIN GET OUT OF THE SOVIET- GERMAN NON-AGGRESSION PACT?

 

THE SOVIET UNION GOT FAVORABLE TRADE CONCESSIONS  AND THE BALTIC STATES AND PART OF POLAND IN RETURN FOR GIVING GERMANY A FREE HAND IN POLAND. 

 

HITLER GOT THE MILITARY BENEFIT OF FIGHTING A MILITARY WEAK POLAND ON THE EASTERN FRONT.

 

WHAT DID HITLER AND STALIN HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH AFTER SIGNING THE NON-AGGRESSION PACT?

 

HITLER BELIEVED THAT AFTER HE DEFEATED POLAND HE COULD CONCLUDE A PEACE PACT WITH GREAT BRITAIN AND FRANCE.

 

STALIN WANTED TIME TO GET THE RED ARMY IN FIGHTING SHAPE BY 1942 OR 1943. 

 

STALIN HOPED FRANCE WOULD STALEMATE GERMANY ON THE WESTERN FRONT AND WAS, THEREBY, STUNNED WHEN FRANCE FELL IN SIX WEEKS.

 

WHY WAS THE RED ARMY NOT READY TO FIGHT IN 1939?

 

IN 1937 AND 1938, STALIN PURGED SOME 36,000 OF HIS OFFICERS. HE LAUNCHED THESE TERRIBLE PURGES BECAUSE HE FEARED THAT RED OFFICERS MIGHT LAUNCH A COUP AGAINST HIM. THESE PURGES DESTROYED THE COMBAT READINESS OF THE RED ARMY. 

 

WHY WAS THE GERMAN INVASION OF THE SOVIET UNION ON JUNE 22, 1941 SO IMPORTANT?

 

THE NAZI INVASION FORCED THE SOVIETS INTO AN ALLIANCE FIRST WITH GREAT BRITAIN AND LATER ON WITH THE UNITED STATES.

 

MANY HISTORIANS GIVE THE SOVIET UNION PRIMARY CREDIT FOR DEFEATING NAZI GERMANY. 

 

WHAT WAS THE EXTENT OF GERMAN INVASION?

 

THE GERMANS ATTACKED THE SOVIET UNION WITH 3,200,000 MEN, 35OO TANKS, AND CLOSE TO 2000 AIRCRAFT ALONG A FRONT OF 1,500 MILES. 

 

THE SIZE OF THE RED ARMY WAS ALMOST 5 AND ONE-HALF MILLION MEN, ARMED WITH ABOUT 2000 TANKS, AND 2700 COMBAT AIRCRAFT.

 

TO UNDERSTAND THE IMMENSITY OF THE FRONT, IT STRETCHED APPROXIMATELY HALFWAY ACROSS THE UNITED STATES.

 

LET ME COMPARE THIS WITH THE ALLIED INVASION FORCE AT NORMANDY.

THE ALLIES ATTACKED WITH ABOUT 135,000 MEN ALONG A FRONT OF LESS THAN 50 MILES.

 

HOW COULD STALIN NOT HAVE BEEN AWARE OF THE BUILD-UP AND THUS ANTICIPATED THE SUPRRISE ATTACK?

 

QUITE THE CONTRARY, STALIN HAD BEEN KEPT FULLY INFORMED OF THE GERMAN BUILD-UP. 

 

HIS OWN INTELLIGENCE, AND THE BRITISH AND AMERICAN GOVERNMENTS DELUGED HIM WITH INFORMATION. 

 

STALIN’S IRRATIONAL RESPONSE TO THE GROWING NAZI THREAT REMAINS ONE OF HISTORY’S GREAT MYSTERIES. THAT IS, 99% OF THE TIME STALIN WAS INCREDIBLY “STREET WISE.”

 

WHAT IS A POSSIBLE EXPLANATION FOR STALIN’S SEEMING BLINDNESS?

 

NIKITA KHRUSCHEV MIGHT BE CLOSEST TO THE TRUTH WHEN HE EXPLAINED STALIN’S FAILURE TO  “FEAR OF WAR.”

 

KHRUSCHEV CLAIMED THAT STALIN HAD PERSONALLY TOLD HIM THAT ‘HITLER IS SURE TO BEAT OUR BRAINS IN.’

 

WHAT WAS THE COST OF THE CATASTROPHE ON THE SOVIET UNION?

 

ABOUT TWENTY MILLION SOVIET CITIZENS DIED AND ANOTHER TWENTY-FIVE MILLION WERE MUTILATED. 

 

OF EVERY 100 YOUNG SOVIET SOLDIERS WHO WENT TO THE FRONT, ONLY THREE SURVIVED PHYSICALLY UNHARMED TO THE END.

 

WHY DID HITLER ATTACK THE SOVIET UNION?

 

ALTHOUGH HITLER LIED AND VACILATED ON MANY ISSUES, HE HAD ONE OVERRIDING OBJECTIVE. “TO DESTROY THE SOVIET UNION.” 

HITLER DESPISED COMMUNISM AND THE RACIAL MAKE-UP OF THE SOVIET UNION.

 

MOREOVER, HITLER FEARED THAT THE SOVIET UNION WITH ITS 170 MILLION SLAV INHABITANTS WOULD EVENTUALLY DESTROY SOME EIGHTY MILLION GERMANS. 

 

IN MEIN KAMPF, HITLER WROTE THAT GERMANY HAD BEEN FOOLISH TO FIGHT A WORLD WAR IN THE WEST. 

 

THE THIRD REICH NEEDED LAND IN THE EAST.

 

HOW DID THE SOVIET UNION BENEFIT FROM WORLD WAR II?

 

THE SOVIET VICTORY OVER NAZI GERMANY ENABLED THE SOVIET UNION T0 SEIZE MUCH OF EASTERN EUROPE. 

 

IN ESSENCE, STALIN LEVERAGED THE RED ARMY’S LIBERATION OF TERRITORY UNDER NAZI RULE INTO PERMANENT SOVIET SATELITE STATES.

 

WHO WON THE CHESS MATCH BETWEEN HITLER AND STALIN?

 

HITLER WON AND CAME WITHIN A HAIR-BREATH OF CONQUORING THE WORLD.

 

HITLER EXPLOITED THE ADVANTAGE OF FIGHTING JUST ON ONE FRONT TO FIRST ANNIHILATE POLAND, AND THEN IN 1940 IN A FEW WEEKS OVERRUNING ALL OF WESTERN EUROPE.

 

SHORTLY AFTER HITLER’S SURPRISE ATTACK ON THE SOVIET UNION IN 1941, HE HAD RETAKEN ALL THE TERRITORY THAT STALIN HAD GRABBED IN 1939.

 

WHAT SHOULD WE THINK ABOUT WHEN WE VISIT GDANSK, THE FORMER DANZIG?

 

FIRST OF ALL, WE SHOULD NOTE THAT GDANSK IS STILL A CITY RICH WITH HISTORY. 

THE POLISH SOLDIARITY MOVEMENT THAT OVERTURNED SOVIET TYRANNY STARTED IN GDANSK.

 

SECONDLY, WE SHOULD REMEMBER THAT MUCH OF THIS FORMER GERMAN ENCLAVE IN GDANSK WAS DESTROYED DURING WORLD WAR II. 

 

THIRDLY, AFTER WORLD WAR II, POLAND FORCIBLY FORCED ETHNIC GERMANS OUT OF GDANSK AND NEIGHBORING AREAS INTO GERMANY.